92 THE PASTORAL AGE IN AUSTRALASIA 



Bay. After the Darling Downs the Northern Rivers 

 were consequently the first to receive their tale of 

 colonisation. Stimulated by the discoveries of Andrew 

 Petrie and Henry Stuart Russell, settlement advanced 

 rapidly in the North. The Burnett was the earliest 

 to be settled. The Healeys were attracted to its upper 

 reaches, while John Eales, coming with stock from the 

 Hunter River (the chief supplier of Northern Queens- 

 land), was the first to plant himself down in Wide Bay. 

 The Joneses of Sydney were the first to pass the range, 

 nearer Nanango ; while the middle and Upper Burnett 

 were attacked from various points. 



No family shines with a brighter lustre in the colonisa- 

 tion of Northern Queensland than that of the Archers. 

 In 1853 the seven famous Norwegian brothers were 

 squatting on the Burnett. A thirst for new conquests, 

 a longing to push into the Unknown, drove them further 

 afield. In the year named they started from Eidsvold, 

 endeared by its name to all who have travelled in Nor- 

 way. Travelling from Dalgangal to Rawbelle, they 

 found at the foot of Mount Rannes the outmost station 

 in that direction, occupied by the Leith-Hays. Moving 

 towards the river which they descried in the distance, 

 they came up with that magnificent sheet of water, 

 Gracemere Lake. Next, they saw the picturesque 

 lagoon which they named the Pink Lily. Then they 

 pushed on to the river, which, having reached it, they 

 called (after the Governor) the Fitzroy. Two years 

 afterwards they placed their head-station by Gracemere 

 Lake, and there they have ever since remained, giving 

 it a repute of the first order for its breeds of stock and 

 its modern methods. The whole neighbouring country 

 was by them explored and marked out in blocks, which 

 were rapidly taken up. They were the pioneers of the 

 district, and their lead was followed by many others. 

 Some of them earmarked their runs without at the time 

 stocking them — a thing then practicable under the land 

 regulations. Some sat down in the neighbourhood of 

 Gladstone, like the Landsboroughs of Raglan — one of 



